Electronic Advanced Passenger Information System (eAPIS)

1

Definitions

Commercial aircraft. A "commercial aircraft" is any aircraft transporting passengers and/or cargo for some payment or other consideration, including money or services rendered.
Private aircraft. A "private aircraft" is any aircraft engaged in a personal or business flight to or from the U.S. which is not:

Carrying passengers and/or cargo for commercial purposes;
Leaving the U.S. carrying neither passengers nor cargo in order to lade passengers and/or cargo in a foreign area for commercial purposes; or
Returning to the U.S. carrying neither passengers nor cargo in ballast after leaving with passengers and/or cargo for commercial purposes;

Source: 19 CFR 122, §122.1

2

The arrival process

Private Aircraft (Regulatory)

The private aircraft pilot is responsible for ensuring the notice of arrival and manifest information regarding each individual onboard the aircraft are transmitted to CBP. The pilot is responsible for the submission, accuracy, correctness, timeliness, and completeness of the submitted information, but may authorize another party to submit the information on their behalf. Except as provided in paragraph (b)(7) of this section, all data must be transmitted to CBP by means of an electronic data interchange system approved by CBP and must set forth the information specified in this section. All data pertaining to the notice of arrival for the aircraft and the manifest data regarding each individual onboard the aircraft must be transmitted at the same time via an electronic data interchange system approved by CBP.

Source: 19 CFR 122, §122.22(b)(1)

The private aircraft pilot is responsible for ensuring that the information [. . .] of this section is transmitted to CBP:

For flights originally destined for the United States, any time prior to departure of the aircraft, but no later than 60 minutes prior to departure of the aircraft from the foreign port or place; or
For flights not originally destined to the United States, but diverted to a U.S. port due to an emergency, no later than 30 minutes prior to arrival; in cases of non-compliance, CBP will take into consideration that the carrier was not equipped to make the transmission and the circumstances of the emergency situation.

Source: 19 CFR 122, §122.22(b)(2)

Prior to departure from the foreign port or place, the pilot of a private aircraft must receive a message from DHS approving landing within the United States, and follow any instructions contained therein prior to departure. Once DHS has approved departure, and the pilot has executed all instructions issued by DHS, the aircraft is free to depart with the intent of landing at the designated U.S. port of entry.

Source: 19 CFR 122, §122.22(b)(6)

The private aircraft pilot is obligated to make necessary changes to the arrival manifest after transmission of the manifest to CBP. If changes to an already transmitted manifest are necessary, an updated and amended manifest must be resubmitted to CBP. Only amendments regarding flight cancellation, expected time of arrival (ETA) or changes in arrival location, to an already transmitted manifest may be submitted telephonically, by radio, or through existing processes and procedures. On a limited case-by-case basis, CBP may permit a pilot to submit or update notice of arrival and arrival/departure manifest information telephonically when unforeseen circumstances preclude submission of the information via eAPIS. Under such circumstances, CBP will manually enter the notice of arrival and arrival/departure manifest information provided by the pilot and the pilot is required to wait for CBP screening and approval to depart. Changes in ETA and arrival location must be coordinated with CBP at the new arrival location to ensure that resources are available to inspect the arriving aircraft. If a subsequent manifest is submitted less than 60 minutes prior to departure to the United States, the private aircraft pilot must receive approval from CBP for the amended manifest containing added passenger information and/or changes to information that were submitted regarding the aircraft and all individuals onboard the aircraft, before the aircraft is allowed to depart the foreign location, or the aircraft may be, as appropriate, diverted from arriving in the United States, or denied permission to land in the United States. If a subsequent, amended manifest is submitted by the pilot, any approval to depart the foreign port or location previously granted by CBP as a result of the original manifest's submission is invalid.

Source: 19 CFR 122, §122.22(b)(7)

The process is easier than it seems and is explained in English, below..

Commercial Aircraft (Regulatory)

Basic requirement. Except as provided in paragraph (c) of this section, an appropriate official of each commercial aircraft (carrier) arriving in the United States from any place outside the United States must transmit to the Advance Passenger Information System (APIS; referred to in this section as the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) system), the electronic data interchange system approved by CBP for such transmissions, an electronic passenger arrival manifest covering all passengers checked in for the flight. A passenger manifest must be transmitted separately from a crew member manifest required under §122.49b if transmission is in U.S. EDIFACT format. The passenger manifest must be transmitted to the CBP system at the place and time specified in paragraph (b)(2) of this section, in the manner set forth under paragraph (b)(1)(ii) of this section.

Source: 19 CFR 122, §122.49a(b)(1)(i)

Place and time for submission. The appropriate official [ . . . ] must transmit the arrival manifest or manifest data [ . . . ] to the CBP system (CBP Data Center, CBP Headquarters), in accordance with the following:

For manifests transmitted under paragraph (b)(1)(ii)(A) or (B) of this section, no later than 30 minutes prior to the securing of the aircraft;
For manifest information transmitted under paragraph (b)(1)(ii)(C) of this section, no later than the securing of the aircraft;
For flights not originally destined to the United States but diverted to a U.S. port due to an emergency, no later than 30 minutes prior to arrival; in cases of non-compliance, CBP will take into consideration whether the carrier was equipped to make the transmission and the circumstances of the emergency situation; and
For an aircraft operating as an air ambulance in service of a medical emergency, no later than 30 minutes prior to arrival; in cases of non-compliance, CBP will take into consideration whether the carrier was equipped to make the transmission and the circumstances of the emergency situation.

Source: 19 CFR 122, §122.49a(b)(2)

The various mysterious paragraphs and bracketed ellipses all refer to minutiae about batch reporting and the like. The bottom line is you have to submit a crew and passenger manifest and CBP has a few extra steps to follow before approving your arrival. Once again this is broken down into English, as follows . . .

Arrival Process (In English)

Ensure that an APIS manifest is submitted to CBP. The pilot is responsible for the submission of an accurate manifest and for validating APIS data for travelers arriving in to the United States. APIS manifests can be submitted as early as you like, but no later than 60 minutes prior to the flight's departure.
Receive an electronic clearance response from DHS. You should get a confirmation e-mail receipt from APISConfirmNoReply@dhs.gov within a few seconds saying your manifest was successfully processed and cleared, or CBP was unable to systematically clear your manifest.
If your manifest was not processed successfully, you will be given instructions on how to contact a DHS representative to assist with the flight's clearance. It could be a simple entry error or you could have somebody flagged on the "No Fly" list.
Report immediately to CBP for inspection upon arrival in to the United States.
You should keep a copy of the eAPIS e-mail during the flight.
Changes: you must submit another manifest in eAPIS if:

Additional travelers are added; you can resubmit the previous manifest if the pilot has not changed.
The date of travel has changed.
The aircraft changes.

Changes: you do not make change in eAPIS if:

The travel time on the same day changes; just notify the CBP airport of arrival.
The port changes; just notify the original and new CBP.
Passengers or crew do not fly; you don't need to do anything if the pilot is the same.

3

The departure process

Private Aircraft (Regulatory)

The private aircraft pilot is responsible for ensuring that information regarding private aircraft departing the United States, and manifest data for all individuals onboard the aircraft is timely transmitted to CBP. The pilot is responsible for the accuracy, correctness, timeliness, and completeness of the submitted information, but may authorize another party to submit the information on their behalf. Data must be transmitted to CBP by means of an electronic data interchange system approved by CBP, and must set forth the information specified [ . . .] All data pertaining to the aircraft, and all individuals onboard the aircraft must be transmitted at the same time. On a limited case-by-case basis, CBP may permit a pilot to submit or update notice of arrival and arrival/departure manifest information telephonically to CBP when unforeseen circumstances preclude submission of the information via eAPIS. Under such circumstances, CBP will manually enter the notice of arrival and arrival/departure manifest information provided by the pilot and the pilot is required to wait for CBP screening and approval to depart.

Source: 19 CFR 122, §122.22(c)(1)

The private aircraft pilot must transmit the electronic data required [in this] section to CBP any time prior to departing the United States, but no later than 60 minutes prior to departing the United States.

Source: 19 CFR 122, §122.22(c)(2)

Prior to departure for a foreign port or place, the pilot of a private aircraft must receive a message from DHS approving departure from the United States and follow any instructions contained therein.

Source: 19 CFR 122, §122.22(c)(5)

If any of the data elements change after the manifest is transmitted, the private aircraft pilot must update the manifest and resubmit the amended manifest to CBP. Only amendments regarding flight cancellation, expected time of departure or changes in departure location, to an already transmitted manifest may be submitted telephonically, by radio, or through existing processes and procedures. If an amended manifest is submitted less than 60 minutes prior to departure, the private aircraft pilot must receive approval from CBP for the amended manifest containing added passenger information and/or changes to information that were submitted regarding the aircraft before the aircraft is allowed to depart the U.S. location, or the aircraft may be denied clearance to depart from the United States. If a subsequent amended manifest is submitted by the pilot, any clearance previously granted by CBP as a result of the original manifest's submission is invalid.

Source: 19 CFR 122, §122.22(c)(6)

The process is easier than it seems and is explained in English, below..

Commercial Aircraft (Regulatory)

Basic requirement. Except as provided in paragraph (c) of this section, an appropriate official of each commercial aircraft (carrier) departing from the United States en route to any port or place outside the United States must transmit to the Advance Passenger Information System (APIS; referred to in this section as the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) system), the electronic data interchange system approved by CBP for such transmissions, an electronic passenger departure manifest covering all passengers checked in for the flight. A passenger manifest must be transmitted separately from a crew member manifest required under §122.75b if transmission is in U.S. EDIFACT format. The passenger manifest must be transmitted to the CBP system at the place and time specified in paragraph (b)(2) of this section, in the manner set forth under paragraph (b)(1)(ii) of this section.

Source: 19 CFR 122, §122.75a(b)(1)(i)

The appropriate official specified in paragraph (b)(1)(i) of this section (carrier) must transmit the departure manifest or manifest data as required under paragraphs (b)(1)(i) and (ii) of this section to the CBP system (CBP Data Center, CBP Headquarters), in accordance with the following:

For manifests transmitted under paragraph (b)(1)(ii)(A) and (B) of this section, no later than 30 minutes prior to the securing of the aircraft;
For manifest information transmitted under paragraph (b)(1)(ii)(C) of this section, no later than the securing of the aircraft; and
For an aircraft operating as an air ambulance in service of a medical emergency, no later than 30 minutes after departure.

Source: 19 CFR 122, §122.75a(b)(2)

The various mysterious paragraphs and bracketed ellipses all refer to minutiae about batch reporting and the like. The bottom line is you have to submit a crew and passenger manifest and CBP has a few extra steps to follow before approving your arrival. Once again this is broken down into English, as follows . . .

Departure Process (In English)

Ensure that an APIS manifest is submitted to CBP. The pilot is responsible for the submission of an accurate manifest submission and validating APIS data for travelers departing the United States. APIS manifests must be submitted no later than 60 minutes prior to the flight's departure.
Receive an electronic clearance response from DHS. You should get a confirmation e-mail receipt from APISConfirmNoReply@dhs.gov within a few seconds saying your manifest was successfully processed and cleared as expected, or CBP was unable to systematically clear your manifest.
If your manifest was not processed successfully, you'll be given instructions on how to contact a DHS representative to assist with the flight's clearance.
You are clear to depart without further interaction unless CBP or another DHS agency contacts you and instructs you to report for an outbound inspection. In that case, you must present the aircraft, yourself, and all travelers for inspection just as he would for an inspection upon arrival in to the United States.
You should keep a copy of the eAPIS e-mail during the flight.
Changes: you must submit another manifest in eAPIS if:

Additional travelers are added; you can resubmit the previous manifest if the pilot has not changed.
The date of travel has changed.
The aircraft changes.

Changes: you do not make change in eAPIS if:

The travel time on the same day changes; just notify the CBP airport of arrival.
The port changes; just notify the original and new CBP.
Passengers or crew do not fly; you don't need to do anything if the pilot is the same.

4

Part 135 caveat

The process for eAPIS under 14 CFR 135 is similar to 14 CFR 91 but the system goes through extra steps that can create a few problems:

If you are departing and arriving on the same day using the same flight number, the system may only keep the data for the second flight. You may need to change the flight number of one of the flights or delay submitting the eAPIS for the second flight.
If you depart under 14 CFR 91 and return under 14 CFR 135 the steps of the system used to record commercial flights gets bypassed and the return flight could set up a few alarms. If you plan on returning 14 CFR 135 you need to depart 14 CFR 135 as well.

5

The actual mechanics

The eAPIS system is accessed through https://eapis.cbp.dhs.gov.

You will need to enroll in the system and learn through trial and error. There used to be an online tutorial, in fact the website still makes reference to it. But it is not there any more.

References

(Source material)

19 CFR 122, Air Commerce Regulations

eAPIS, Customs & Border Protection, U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Notice of Public Rule Making (NPRM), 19 CFR 122, Federal Register, Vol. 73, No 223, November 18, 2008.

eAPIS